Menu

Confusion over whether an accused Canadian terrorist is dead or not is hampering efforts to resolve a legal battle over police demand for a journalist’s background materials, a request that has alarmed media-rights groups.

Federal prosecutors and the RCMP are holding fast to a production order that a Vice Media reporter produce information related to his interviews with Farah Shirdon, a Calgary man who is charged in absentia with various terrorism-related offences.

Vice Media is currently seeking leave to appeal the RCMP’s demand to the Supreme Court of Canada, arguing among other things that it infringes on media freedom and could make it harder for journalists to access sources.